


A Knight and a Dragon

by ziazippy5379



Series: The Tales of Galahad and Jasper [1]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Backstory, Dragons, Jenkins is friends with a dragon, because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 16:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziazippy5379/pseuds/ziazippy5379
Summary: The story of how Galahad met and became friends with a dragon.





	A Knight and a Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a tumblr post from omgbrainstorming. I don't exactly remember the post but I do remember that much. It has been a month or so since I started this.
> 
> It has been a while since I read or wrote anything because of school, but I am working on a bigger project and needed a break so I finished this. It was a nice break and I'm ready to tackle that again.

"What do you mean you're friends with a dragon?" Cassandra exclaimed.

"Exactly that. We are friends and have been for quite a long time," Jenkins replied.

"Why haven't you ever mentioned them before? Especially with how many times we've had to deal with dragons," she asked.

"My friend is not the same type of dragon that you have dealt with before. She wouldn't have been much help in any of those situations," he said.

"Then what type of dragon is she?"

"She's a bookwyrm. She is the only being left who has a library to rival ours. And she is quite good at tracking down rare and unusual books for us."

"Really? Is that where we get those random shipments from? Can I meet her? What's her name?" these questions were fired off rapidly by Cassandra.

"Yes, that is where the shipments come from. I will try and set up a time for you two to meet. It may take a while though. And she goes by Jasper," Jenkins said.

"Oh, okay," she said starting to look dejected. Then she brightened again, "Will you tell me how you became friends?"

"Well, that's an interesting story."

\--

Galahad was on a mission. It was the first one he had undertaken since he had left his homeland. He had left after the last of his friends from when he had been mortal died. Now he was nearing a century old and had lost his sense purpose.

Then he had heard of a village that was having trouble with a dragon. They could no longer get to the closest towns to trade because the only other route took too long, and they could not leave their homes for so long. Also, many more travelers than usual were disappearing. Whether it was due to the dragon or them trying to avoid the dragon no one knew. But something had to be done.

The villagers had tried to dissuade him from going after the dragon by himself. They had said they had sent for a knight to come and deal with it. He hadn't told them he was a knight. Galahad had quit calling himself one when his friends had all gone. It did not feel right when his King and fellow knights were no longer by his side. He had thought about trying to become a knight again for a new king but hadn't gotten the motivation to do so.

Galahad had heard of this trouble when in a town not too far on the same side of the dragon as the closest village. He knew how far they were from the capital of any kingdom and how unlikely it was a knight would be sent anytime soon. So, he decided to deal with it himself. Once he had decided this, he felt better than he had in years. It was the first time he had felt even a little purpose in the time since he had left his home.

The dragon did not worry Galahad much. He had fought and won against them both by himself and with others. But most dragons would leave once they thought it was more trouble than the gain was worth. There were also the few that could be bargained with to leave. Some part of him hoped this would be that sort of dragon, but he had to make sure he was ready for anything.

He was walking through the forest along the path the villagers had told him led to where the dragon had set up its lair. It had apparently taken over one of the towers built during a war many years earlier. Over the years it had been mostly forgotten as anything other than a landmark for travelers. So far the walk had been completely average and if he had not known there was a dragon he would never have suspected anything was amiss.

Suddenly the forest became unnaturally quiet. The birds were no longer singing, and he could no longer hear any other animals moving through the foliage. He must be getting close to the tower. A few steps further and he walked into a clear and in the center was the tower. He saw the dragon perched on the top of the tower and was surprised.

It was the smallest full-grown dragon he had ever seen. It was no longer than two men were tall. If it had not been for the placement of horns, he would have thought it was a juvenile. But it was definitely an adult. The dragon was red in color with streaks of black running around it. The pattern reminded Galahad of stones he had seen.

Due to his surprise, the dragon noticed him faster than he could do anything.

"Who goes there?" the dragon growled turning towards him.

"I am Galahad," was all he said.

The dragon seemed puzzled by his response. Then came a response he never would have expected.

"Not Sir Galahad? You have the bearing of a knight."

He was startled by this question. No dragon he had ever faced before had cared about detail such as title. He figured the best way to go forward was to just answer the creature's questions. It was looking like this one he could reason with and maybe convince to go without fighting.

"My King is dead. Therefore, I am no longer his knight."

"I grieve his loss with you. But I also thought that it was for your life that knighthood lasted not that of your king," the dragon said. It sounded sincere but also as of it couldn't contain its curiosity.

He didn't know how to respond to the condolences given by the dragon, so Galahad just answered the other statement.

"It has been many decades since my King has died. And since my fellow knights joined him. I am the only one left," he said. He also had no idea why he was confessing all of this to a dragon that he was supposed to be getting rid of. But it felt nice to be able to say these things aloud.

"So, you no longer show the passage of time in your physical form. That is quite interesting. And what is more interesting is a knight who talks before drawing their sword."

Each time the dragon spoke it seemed to find Galahad more interesting. The interest reminded him of the same way Merlin would find interest in a new spell or magical object he found. And Galahad was almost as intrigued.

"I would always prefer to use words before my sword. I have seen enough death in my time and I would like to see a little more as possible," he knew that he wasn't able to keep the sadness out of his voice, but he didn't care.

"I see. What is it that you wish to speak to me about then?"

Then was the first time the dragon had moved since turning around. But all it did was stretch its wings open before closing them again. He had no idea what the dragon was trying to convey with the move.

"I wanted to see if you would leave the area. Your presence is causing problems with all the villages on the side I came from."

He hoped that the dragon would listen. He didn't want to have to kill a creature that was so intelligent and showed so many signs of caring for others.

There was a pause before it spoke again.

"It would give me no greater pleasure than to leave this place, but there is a problem," it said almost sheepishly.

"And what would that be?"

"I'm stuck."

"Stuck?"

"Yes. There is some sort of curse on this tower that I triggered while trying to retrieve a book."

"A book?" He wasn't sure why that was the part he was questioning.

"Yes. I'm what is called a bookwyrm. Now if you wish for me to leave the area I need your help."

"What can I do?"

What he could do was a complicated spell that involved many ingredients. Luckily, they were all things that grew in the forest surrounding the tower. Galahad wasn't able to gather everything before nightfall, but he was in no danger with the dragon watching over him. Once morning came, he gathered the rest of the ingredients and got ready to complete the spell. The dragon gave him instructions on how to set up the spell and for once he was thankful that Merlin had made the knights watch him perform spells. If he hadn't Galahad would never have known what the dragon was telling him to do. Once the spell was fully set up the dragon gave him the final activation instructions. He followed them and the whole tower began to glow. After the glow subsided Galahad saw the dragon beginning to move off the tower. And for the first time since beginning to speak to the dragon, he felt afraid.

There was no need for him to fear because the dragon just sat in front of him in the clearing.

"Thank you for your help, Galahad," it said with genuine gratitude in its voice.

"Helping other beings in need is my duty," he said. "By helping you I also helped all the villagers and travelers who need to pass through these woods."

"That does not make my gratitude any less sincere. What will you do now?"

There was a thoughtful look in the dragon's eyes as it asked him this.

"I do not know. Most likely I will continue to wander the lands. Perhaps look for more people to help or become a knight again," he said without enthusiasm in his voice.

"If I were to offer you the chance to be away from populated areas while still being able to help people, would you take it?"

Galahad had no idea what to think about that. He wasn't sure he wanted to give up on life. But maybe a break from watching everyone around him die would be welcome.

"Is this a permanent position?"

"No, you would be able to come and go as you please. The only condition is that you help me care for my collection. Having a human help makes it much less dangerous for it."

Galahad sat down and thought about it. The dragon watched him patiently. After a while, he rose ready to begin a new part of his life.

"I will take your offer."

"Wonderful!" with was an excited tone that Galahad didn't even know dragons could use. "We shall leave at once."

"Before we go may I inquire as to what I should call you?"

"You may call me Jasper."

\--

"You helped her get down off a tower?" Cassandra asked skeptically.

"Yes, there was quite a lot of magic involved."

"Okay then. So how long did you end up working with her?"

"Nearly a century before I felt the need to spend time with other humans. I spent most of that time doing much of what I do here. That is keeping the books in order and the magical artifacts under control. And I continued to go back whenever I needed to escape."

"Wait a minute. Then how did you end up here at the Library?"

"When Jasper found out about the Library, she decided to give all the artifacts to it. They had become more trouble than she wanted to deal with. Since I knew how they all worked and interacted with each other I came along. And they gave me a similar position here. I still visit with Jasper when I can though."

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always welcome.
> 
> I hope it isn't as long before I have time for writing more Librarians stuff, but school may have other things to say about that.
> 
> I also think I may come back to Jasper at some point. I like her and want to work out more of her character.
> 
> (you can find me on tumblr at theredshirtsarecoming)


End file.
